Sacred Heart Cathedral Bendigo

The formal laying of the foundation stone occurred on Friday, June 25, 1897 – the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – by Bishop Reville, Bishop Crane being too infirm to be present. A stone with 13 Roman numerals and the Alpha and Omega is to the right hand side of the great west doors (as you face them). The stone has the X symbol for Christ with AD surrounding it and MDCCCLXXXXVII below.

On September 28, 1901 Bishop Reville blessed the new building (the nave of the present building) and on Sunday September 29, 1901 His Eminence Patrick Francis Cardinal Moran formally opened the building.

In 1953 Bishop Bernard Stewart decided to finish the cathedral. Workers dug for days and finally unearthed the foundations which has been laid in the 1890’s. His Eminence Norman Cardinal Gilroy, Archbishop of Sydney, laid a commemorative stone on October 16, 1955.

The interior was completed by October 1973 and formally opened by Bishop Stewart. The spire was finished by 1977. The building was consecrated by Archbishop Thomas Vincent Cahill, archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn (a former Bendigo boy) and formally opened by His Eminence James Cardinal Freeman, Archbishop of Sydney.